Automatic Cotton Swab Packaging Machine: Automatic Counting, Conveying, Feeding, Bagging, and Sealing

Automatic Cotton Swab Packaging Machine: Automatic Counting, Conveying, Feeding, Bagging, and Sealing

A cotton swab packaging machine is a fully automatic or semi-automatic specialized piece of equipment used to pack bulk sterile cotton swabs into pre-made paper-plastic bags or composite film bags according to a set quantity (e.g., 5, 10, 20 swabs, etc.) and seal them.

I. Main Equipment Types

1. Fully Automatic Cotton Swab Packaging Machine

Features: Fully automated process from swab feeding, counting, bagging to sealing, bag cutting, and finished product output; high speed, high efficiency, and low manual labor requirements.

Capacity: Typically 50-120 bags per minute or higher.

Applications: Large cotton swab manufacturers, medical device companies; suitable for large-scale standardized production.

2. Semi-Automatic Cotton Swab Packaging Machine

Features: Usually requires manual placement of cotton swabs into a vibrating hopper or counting tank; the machine automatically completes bagging, sealing, and cutting. Relatively simple structure and lower price.

Production Capacity: Dependent on manual feeding speed, typically 20-60 bags per minute.

Suitable for: Small and medium-sized manufacturers, startups, or for small-batch, multi-specification production.

II. Standard Workflow (Taking a fully automatic machine as an example)

1. Feeding: Bulk cotton swabs are poured into an elevator or vibrating hopper.

2. Arranging and Counting:

Vibrating plate/track: Vibration arranges the disordered cotton swabs into an orderly manner and conveys them to the counting device.

Counting: Precise counting is performed using photoelectric sensors, mechanical clamps, or a vision system. This is the core of the machine and requires extremely high accuracy.

3. Bagging: A robotic arm or pusher pushes a set number of cotton swabs into pre-formed packaging bags. The packaging bags are formed on-site by a bag maker using roll film, or pre-made bags are used.

4. Sealing:

For paper-plastic bags (one side paper, one side transparent composite film), heat sealing is used.

For all-plastic composite film, heat sealing or pulse sealing is used.

Sealing requires a tight seal, a smooth surface, and an intact sterile barrier.

5. Cutting and Output: The continuously sealed bags are cut into individual products and output via a conveyor belt, potentially connected to an automatic coding machine or labeling machine.

6. Optional Additional Functions: Date and batch number printing (inkjet coding), easy-tear opening creation, finished product counting, defective product rejection, etc.

III. Core Structure and Technical Points of the Equipment

1. Counting System: The key to packaging accuracy. Advanced equipment employs multi-level counting verification (e.g., initial counting + re-inspection) or machine vision systems to ensure 100% accuracy.

2. Bag Making and Feeding System:

Roll Film Type: Uses roll packaging film for on-site bag making, low cost, high efficiency, but requires debugging.

Pre-made Bag Type: Uses pre-printed individual bags, easy to change sizes, more aesthetically pleasing packaging, but higher bag cost.

3. Transmission and Control System:

Core: Typically uses a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) + touchscreen human-machine interface.

Drive: Servo motors and stepper motors ensure precise and synchronized movements.

4. Materials and Hygiene Standards:

Parts in contact with the product must be made of 304 or 316 stainless steel, meeting GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) requirements.

Easy to clean, with no unsanitary corners.

IV. Development Trends

1. Intelligentization: Integrating more sensors and visual inspection systems to achieve automatic monitoring, data recording (connected to MES systems), fault diagnosis, and automatic rejection of defective products.

2. Flexibility: Capable of quickly changing molds and parameters to adapt to different lengths, quantities, and bag types of cotton swabs.

3. Aseptic Guarantee: For medical cotton swabs, the equipment design prioritizes cleanliness and can be used in cleanrooms or integrated with online sterilization processes.

Machine Specification:

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